The Long Good Friday Movie Review

The Mirror Crack'd (set in The Coronation Year 1953) and The Long Good Friday (set in The Wedding of the Century Year 1981) were both released the same month that Prince Charles and Lady Diana announced their engagement to the world. I can't think of two films that better revealed the dissolution of Things Past and the destiny of Things to Come. The Long Good Friday focused on Brit gangster Harold Shand (Bob Hoskins), who despaired at the erosion of the Great Britain that once was, at the same time he was scrambling to make a deal with the American Mafia, represented by a tough guy named Charlie (Eddie Constantine, 1917–93). But wait. IRA bombings are destroying Harold's lifelong dream. What's a patriotic thug to do? The Long Good Friday is doom-laden from Reel One to its final incredible sequence featuring some of the best acting (by Hoskins) you'll ever see. At an earlier point in the story, Hoskins must slaughter a trusted colleague in spectacularly bloody fashion, AND, at the same time reveal the anguish he feels for killing a friend. No one else in 1980 could quite touch Hoskins as an actor, which makes his later work in fluff like Sweet Liberty, Hook, and Super Mario Bros. a source of anguish for this longtime admirer. Helen Mirren co-stars as Victoria, George Coulouris (1903–89) makes one of his last film appearances, and Pierce Brosnan has one of his first small roles in this classic Brit film noir (Pierce Brosnan also plays a small role in The Mirror Crack'd, but THAT, like Charles and Diana, is another story). Produced by George Harrison's Handmade Films.

1980 109m/C GB Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Dave King, Bryan Marshall, George Coulouris, Pierce Brosnan, Derek Thompson, Eddie Constantine, Brian Hall, Stephen Davies, P. H. Moriarty, Paul Freeman, Charles Cork, Paul Barber, Patti Love, Ruby Head, Dexter Fletcher, Roy Alon; D: John MacKenzie; W: Barrie Keefe; C: Phil Meheux; M: Francis Monkman. VHS